Former Soviet citizens in Wehrmacht or other Third Reich organizations or captivity.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Secret archive reveals how Russia showed huge support for 'Christian crusader' Nazi invaders who had come to fight 'godless communists'

A
group of Russians captured by the Nazis during Operation Barbarossa:
Documents from secret archives have revealed how some Soviets believed
the Germans were Christian crusaders come to throw of the yoke of
communism.

By Allan Hall
An extraordinary
secret archive has revealed for the first time how thousands of Soviet
citizens collaborated with Nazi invaders during World War II.

The
cache of documents, some retrieved from the files of the KGB, shows how
many viewed the Germans as Christian liberators – and their own masters
as godless Communists.

This view was reinforced when the soldiers
of the Third Reich opened up 470 churches in north-western Russia alone
and reinstated priests driven from their pulpits by Stalin.

In
turn, the clergy co-operated closely with S.S. death squads in betraying
Communist officials, Jews and partisan resistance groups.

Perhaps
most astonishingly, the Germans even shipped numerous mayors,
journalists, policeman and teachers back to the Reich to show them the
‘German way of life.’

Russia has always portrayed the war against
the Germans as a historic struggle which cost 27million lives but
ultimately defeated the Nazis forever.

Until now, there has been little examination of the extent of collaboration by Soviet citizens with the invaders.

And there is no doubt that there many Russians detested the Nazis who inflicted mass atrocities on the civilian population.

But
the archive, assembled by Professor Boris Kovalyov of the University of
Novgorod, undermines the one-dimensional nationalist view of Soviet
history.

Unsurprisingly, the research has already triggered a huge debate in Russia about attitudes to the Nazis.

‘The
files give an extraordinary glimpse into a country that was deeply
divided and not at all as heroic as Stalin made out,’ Prof Kovalyov, who
teaches historical jurisprudence, said.

‘They show how local
journalists strove under S.S. supervision to present to their
compatriots the Nazis as friends of the Russians.

‘There was even
praise in newspapers edited by former Communists for Alfred Rosenberg,
the chief racial theorist for the Nazis who had made speeches in the
past talking of the “sub-humanity of the Russians.”

‘Of course
these newspapers were all collected and burned, or locked away, when the
tide of war turned. And those who wrote the articles were executed.’

The Nazis marched on Russia in summer 1941 after Hitler put plans for the invasion of Britain on hold.

He
had met heavy resistance and had become increasingly paranoid about the
Soviets grabbing valuable natural resources as they expanded their
empire.

The campaign was code-named Operation Barbarossa and plunged the Third Reich into a catastrophic situation of war on all fronts.

Troops
were given stark rules of engagement. They were to press ahead with a
‘war without rules’ that would see the merciless execution of millions.

But the freshly rediscovered archives reveal a far more complex situation.

In
many instances, the Nazi commanders attempted a 'hearts and minds'
campaign to win over civilians already oppressed by Communist dictates
which included a ban on religious worship.

The propaganda war had considerable success, with newspapers and collaborators praising the Germans.

‘We
pray to the all-powerful that he gives Adolf Hitler further strength
and power for the final victory over the Bolsheviks!’ ran one article in
the newspaper 'For the Homeland!' that was printed in Pskow in December
1942.

Clandestine tours of Germany were also hugely effective for
provincials who had never travelled ten miles beyond their birthplace,
never seen indoor plumbing or central heating, such trips worked
wonders.

When they returned to the Soviet Union, said Professor
Kovalyov, they were ‘deeply impressed"’ and worked hard to undermine the
stiffening Soviet resistance to the Nazi armies.

Even in January
1943, as the fate of the German Sixth Army was being sealed at
Stalingrad - and with it the war - many Russians still enthused about
the charms of Nazism.

Ian Borodin, a village mayor from
Piskowitschi, wrote that month: ‘Germany is a country of gardens, first
class steelworks and autobahns. It has exemplary order. We should fight
for it!’

In the end it was the Nazis themselves who squandered the opportunity to rally an entire people to its cause.

As
news of German atrocities spread and the Soviet Red Army began pushing
the invader back, the population that had been initially so enthusiastic
for Hitler now began to turn against him.

The Nazis were eventually driven out of Russia and the Red Army pressed on to Berlin, routing Hitler's forces on the way.

For
those tens of thousands who had shown disloyalty to Stalin during the
occupation there was only death awaiting them or long years in the
gulag.

Professor Kovalyov intends to publish a book based on his research next year.

Good Comment
After
Hitler came to power in 1933 the order was given to demolish a rundown
part of Berlin that had been notoriously 'Red' and an area the Nazis
never had any serious support in. The residents thought they were being
punished, but instead their flats were rebuilt with central heating and
other improvements - how to win hearts and minds..... By 1939 living
standards had increased to the point where Russian civilians visiting
Nazi Germany would have been greatly impressed. It's said that when US
troops entered Germany in 1945 towards the war's end it was the first
time many of them had come across bathrooms with showers and indoor
flushing toilets since leaving the USA, and yes that included those who
had been stationed in 1940's England! Good article - and illustrates how
the German's lost the opportunity to bring the critical mass of Soviet
citizenry 'on side'. Had they done so I don't doubt they would have
defeated Stalin and forced the Western powers to accept a negotiated
peace.

Other Websites

About Me

Mitch Williamson is a technical writer with an
interest in military and naval affairs. He has published articles in
Cross & Cockade International and Wartime magazines. He was
research associate for the Bio-history Cross in the Sky, a book about
Charles 'Moth' Eaton's career, in collaboration with the flier's son,
Dr Charles S. Eaton. He also assisted in picture research for John
Burton's Fortnight of Infamy.
Mitch is now publishing on the WWW various specialist websites combined
with custom website design work.